The Greatest Book Of One Of The Greatest Minds

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	• The Will to Power Friedrich Nietzsche Vintage, 1968 - 608 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Philosopher of the Past or of the Future?

Commanding the earth and Ruling Religion: Nietzsche's Dionysian Apocalypse of Man

Nietzsche's classic work, unfinished and unpublished when he collapsed into insanity, is the most controversial of his works. Some avoid using it as the basis of their Nietzsche studies because they cannot be sure if these thoughts are genuinely Niietzsch's, a question that is largely a question of the way Nietzsche's legacy was handled by his sister. However, some who have interpreted Nietzsche, most notably Heidegger, tend to emphasize this work above his other works, especially with respect to clarifying the question of Nietzsche's thought and its relationship to metaphysics. I sympathize with this approach to Nietzsche, for Heidegger was a philosopher interpreting a philosopher, and his judgement can, perhaps, be considered valuable for that reason, but not for that reason alone: I think Heidegger reads Nietzsche in a way that allows him to best see how the various parts of Nietzsche's philosophy can be conjoined so as to facilitate its proper interpretation: the will-to-power has a central relationship, Heidegger asserts, to all of the other parts of Nietzsche's thought, so he tends to read Nietszsche to some degree as a systematic thinker, which in another sense, cannot be further from the truth: Heidegger and Nietzsche both seek to do justice to the complexities or oversimplicities of modernity, but they also seek to found a discourse that is faithful to the almost infinite perspectives that are existentially possible.

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Good Book but not to be read through

This book is loaded with good philosophy but don't expect to pick it up and read through it. It is comprised of various notes left behind by Nietzsche and that is how they are put in the book. There is very little structure and the entries may seem drawn out and repetitive.

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going, going, ...insane.

a collection of notes and fragments from a brilliant philosopher having second thoughts before his brain went supernova on him. this kaufmann fella does a great job with f.n.'s work...thorough presentation, exhaustive annotations and footnotes, historical perspective, etc. not my favorite nietzsche book, but still intellectually light years ahead of what comprises the majority of modern thought. which isn't saying much...

not for those new to mr. n. i'd suggest one of the collections (kaufmann's obviously gets my vote) and then a look at 'zarathustra'. if you get into his writing the way many people do, then pick this up as a companion to 'ecce homo' and read them more as ABOUT the guy than BY him.

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The Greatest Book Of One Of The Greatest Minds

This is the literary equivelent to a posthumous release of demos from a great musician. Nietzsche will always be a source of inspiration to the people who reserve the right to form their own opinions. I think what endears him to people such as myself is his ability to trim the fat off the obvious and serve up only the best and most essential for our intellectual consumption. The first time I read this book I had felt a great deal of relief that the general essence and inspiration found in many of Nietzsche's books could be crystalized in so perfect a tome of mental clarity as well as personal strength. This is a book made to make men stronger and should be read for pleasure as well as self improvement.

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Caveat--The Will To Power: incomplete goldmine

HAH, Mixed Opinions and Maxims
137. The worst readers.- The worst readers are those who proceed like plundering soldiers: they pick up a few things they can use, soil and confuse the rest, and blaspheme the whole.

157. Sharpest criticism.-- One criticizes a person, a book most sharply when one picture their ideal.

Here I'll say there's an enormous difference between a sword and a pen. Too many reviews here say nothing, and if they do, it is with a sword inveighing against straw men. So, to clear the air, I quote from the Gay Science:

130. Incense.-- Buddha said: "Do not flatter your benefactor." This saying should be repeated in every Christian Church--right away it clears the air of everything Christian.

273. Whom do you call bad?-- Those who always want to put to shame.
274. What do you consider human?-- To spare someone shame.

Again, this should not be your introduction to Nietzsche. It is a tedious and poorly constructed compilation of unpublished notes from the Nachlass. Nonetheless it's some of the only material from it that is available in English with extensive notes. That said, the best introduction to the man's thought is found in The Gay Science and Daybreak.

[aside-Snob: ORIGIN late 18th cent.(originally dialect in the sense [cobbler] ): of unknown origin; early senses conveyed a notion of `lower status or rank,' later denoting a person seeking to imitate those of superior social standing or wealth. Folk etymology connects the word with Latin sine nobilitate `WITHOUT NOBILITY' but the earliest recorded sense has no connection with this.]

Nietzsche's philosophy centers on the ideas of nobility, dignity, integrity, achieving the means to future goals and expanding one's horizons to its furthest limit in order to find what is sought and claim what is one's own. If you are fanatic about 'equality' and 'justice' or are compelled to things via independence of thought by association ("I am not your crutch" TSZ) you had best stay away from this man, whose model is the "Roman Caesar with Christ's soul" and "Dionysos against the Crucified." Five stars for content, -1 for Form.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Represents a selection from Nietzche's notebooks to find out what he wrote on nihilism, art, morality, religion, and the theory of knowledge, among others.

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